Lincolns plan for reconstruction was the best because he wanted it to be quick and easy, without punishing the South. The south was so damaged; farmland, railroads, factories, bridges, all ruined! Not to mention slaves were now freed, but society was forever damaged from slavery. It just added more to racism. Slaves being free didn’t make them any better or equal, as a Caucasian man might say. How were they supposed to just go and rebuild their lives? How was anyone supposed to fix all these problems? Well, there were three plans; Lincoln’s plan, Radical Republicans, and Johnson’s plan. Radical Republicans were all for protecting African Americans and thought the confederate leaders should be punished. Johnson’s plan was just like Lincoln’s, just more harsh and painful. Lincoln just wanted the reconstruction to be fast, simple, and painless. Reconstruction was much needed after the Civil War, and they needed a good plan! Lincoln’s plan was a …show more content…
First off, the terms of the plans were easy for Southerners to accept. He made the Ten-Percent plan. For this plan, it stated that a state could be reestablished into the Union if 10% from the vote take the oath of allegiance to the U.S. Most Radical Republicans thought that Lincoln wasn’t harsh enough, and way to easy towards the South. Every former-confederate most likely loved this plan because every other plan wanted punishment upon them. Slavery was always a big issue. Since slaves are now freed, it would be hard for them to just go build a life. Lincoln once thought that once they were finally free, they’d just go back to Libya. Lincoln wasn’t against slaves but his main focus wasn’t on protecting their rights like the Radical Republicans. They had a shelter specifically for blacks and poor whites that was one of the most popular. This just shows that he cared. In conclusion, Lincoln was not against slaves but they were not his main
"Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address March 4, 1865" Realistically, the goals of reconstruction was not very reachable all at once. Lincoln basically expected to have all slavery abolished right away as soon as the Civil War ended and to never go back; plantation owners spent their whole lives bossing around African-American slaves and keeping their businesses running smoothly and efficiently. Getting rid of slaves in such a short amount of time and not just slowly letting them all go bit by bit would ruin the master's plans and livelihoods. Without slaves Southerners would lose a lot of annual profit and their way of living would shatter into 1 million pieces. Lincoln seem to be expecting way too much of the Southerners
Lincoln believed that Black people and white people would be much better off separated.” This presents Lincoln’s stand on slavery. He was not the “Great Emancipator '', he was a fraud only helping the slaves that benefited him leaving the slaves that he didn’t care about to rot. Lincoln was a racist, a firm believer in white supremacy. He never believed in equality; he wanted
Then finally, the Southern states had to enact plans that dealt with freeing the slaves if their freedom was not going to become compromised. The terms of Lincoln’s plans were easy for most of the South to handle, but some Confederates had a hard time with the emancipation of their slaves. With the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, Lincoln got the initiative for reconstruction from Congress. The Radical Republicans, however, thought that the South had gotten away easy due to the plan. Most accepted it due to Lincoln’s prestige and leadership style.
He was trying to keep the union together because the north wouldn’t be able to survive without the south. The north’s soldiers were dying out and Lincoln needed to win the war so his plan was to free the slaves so they would be able to help the north fight the south.
Lincoln was confident about his beliefs of the end of slavery especially when he had wrote out a letter to an author but he never sent it. The letter Lincoln never sent stated that Americans traveling thousands of miles only to capture and bring home the African Americans just to make them slaves is brought upon us by the black race (Danoff 49). Lincoln was furious with the author’s statement and retaliated back with sarcasm. After many states had reestablished their state governments or prepared to they were creating state constitutions that abolished slavery (Brands 3). Life was unfair for African Americans, especially those who were free.
After the civil war both Lincoln and the South had differing ideas for reconstruction. Although the North had won the war, tensions were still high between the two sides of the country. Lincoln wanted no persecutions, no bloody work, and to let prisoners of war go; he had no interest in continuing the killing that the civil war had brought upon the nation. Lincoln also wanted them to draft a new constitution, he did not want to punish the south, he wanted to amalgamate them with the union as fast as possible. Radical republicans however did not want to the country to reunify, they also did not agree with Lincoln’s peaceful solution to end slavery.
One plan of Reconstruction that had an impact was Lincoln’s original plan. Lincoln’s plan was named The 10% plan. The 10% plan was the first plan to be used and was favored in the South because it was not severe and very easy. Lincoln’s plan was that 10% of white voters in the South had to take an oath of loyalty to the U.S. to be able to join it again and any Confederates who served would be offered amnesty, this included everyone but the leaders who would get punished but only minimal amount. If the state swore loyalty they would again be a U.S. state which means that they would get a representative in Congress.
Throughout the history of the United States, there have been many decisions that have impacted the path that society would take and multiple possibilities for each decision. One such decision was related to the Civil War, more specifically the plans for reconstruction after the Civil War. After the Civil War the nation had to rebuild and three plans were provided that outlined a process for the reconstruction, Lincoln’s plan, Johnson’s plan, and the Radical Republican’s plan. Lincoln’s plan called for restoring the Union as quickly as possible with very little punishment for the Southern states. Lincoln’s plan included amnesty for those that pledged an oath to the United States, high ranking Confederate officials were excluded from that amnesty,
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States of America. He implemented many things to improve America, including his Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. After the Civil War ended, Lincoln was going to utilize soft reconstruction to try and bring the once united country back together again. This soft reconstruction used certain methods, which “evolved a plan for harmonious reconstruction of the Union”.
I think President Johnson's plan wasn’t very good because if he gave it up to the south to decide the transitions of slaves to free people, they wouldn’t do it, which would defeat the whole purpose of the civil war. It also didn’t give equal right to African Americans because they couldn’t play a role in
By the end of the Civil War, the South was in a state of political upheaval, social disorder, and economic decay. The Union’s tactics of total war destroyed southern crops, plantations, and entire cities, and hundreds of thousands of emancipated slaves rushed to Union lines as their masters fled the oncoming Union army. Inflation became so severe that by the end of the war a loaf of bread cost several hundred Confederate dollars. Thousands of southerners starved to death, and many who did not starve lost everything they owned: clothing, homes, land, and slaves. As a result, by 1865, policymakers in Washington had the nearly impossible task of southern Reconstruction.
During the time of the Kansas Nebraska Act, Lincoln said “My first impulse would be to free all slaves, and send them to Liberia, to their own native land” (Video 2, Peoria Speech). He wanted to help the slaves and said “I think I would not hold one in slavery at any rate” (Video 2, Peoria Speech). Unlike many people during this time, he believed there was humanity in negros. He talks about how he saw a family being separated so they could be traded and the devastation that it brought to the families who would never see each other again. (Video 3, the 4th Debate).
Reconstruction was a period of time dedicated to rebuilding the nation after the Civil War. The war ended with the South being defeated and their economy being devastated. Many Southerners struggled after the war with rebuilding their land and lives. The President and Congress had to decide the terms for which the former Confederate states would be permitted to join the Union. President Lincoln’s plan for reuniting the country was found in the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.
President Lincoln stated that: “if I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it,..., and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do it.”. This quote clearly shows that the freedom of slaves was not his concern and unnecessary if it did not help the Union; as the result, slavery still exists if there is no war. Free slave from bondage should be a Great Emancipator’s primary goal and he will do his best to achieve it no matter what, but president Lincoln’s thought differed from that because all he cares was the Union. Although he had many times admitting himself an anti-slavery but his words and thoughts obviously prove that he is
Abraham Lincoln’s vs Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan Lincoln shared the uncommon belief that the confederate states could still be part of the union and that the cause of the rebellion was only a few within the states which lead him to begin the reconstruction in December of 1863. This resulted in plans with lenient guidelines and although they were challenged by Wade-Davis Bill, Lincoln still rejected his ideas and kept his policies in place. Lincoln also allowed land to be given the newly freed slave or homeless white by distributing the land that had been confiscated from former land owners however this fell through once Johnson took office. After Lincoln’s death when Johnson was elected many things started to turn away from giving blacks equal rights and resulted in many things such a black codes which kept newly freed slaves from having the same rights as whites. When Lincoln first acted after the civil war, he offered policies that would allow the confederate slaves to become part of the union again and would allow a pardon for those states.